Orochimaru
Orochimaru's most striking characteristic is his snake-like appearance: he has very pale skin, golden eyes with slitted pupils, purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth. He also has pronounced cheekbones and straight waist-length black hair with some locks covering and framing his face or to his shoulders. The various bodies he takes over have each been modified to resemble his original form, except for the height differences. In Naruto Gaiden, Orochimaru's facial features soften and somewhat androgynous with his eye markings becoming black. He also wears his hair in a ponytail, allowing two locks to frame the sides of his face. In the manga, his skin-tone becomes noticeably fairer in complexion. Orochimaru usually wears plain grey garbs with a black polo and pants underneath, a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back, blue tomoe-shaped earrings, and shinobi sandals with bandages around his calves. He is seen wearing a kimono with different colours on several occasions, shown usually in flashbacks or inside his hideouts. During his time with Akatsuki, he wore the standard red and black Akatsuki robes with a slate blue ring, which bears the kanji for "sky" or "void" (空, kū), on his left pinky finger. After countless experiments with his body, his true form became a giant white snake made up of many smaller snakes, with longer, spikier hair, a scaled face with snake-like teeth and a long tongue, black eye markings, and a pointed chin. Like other students of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru is an exceptionally talented shinobi, recognised as a natural prodigy; Hashirama Senju, a God of Shinobi, praises Orochimaru's skills. It wasn't until the Second Shinobi World War that their skills became widely known, dubbed by Hanzō as the Sannin, the strongest of their generation. Orochimaru's power was known and feared throughout the ninja world, such that Akatsuki, of which he was once a member, viewed him as a threat that needed to be eliminated. Shortly before the Konoha Crush, Hiruzen believed that no one in Konoha, himself included, could defeat Orochimaru. Although his invasion fails, it is indeed through Orochimaru's actions that the Third Hokage dies among many others and Konoha's military force is temporarily crippled. Although Sasuke defeats Orochimaru in Part II, he admits that his victory was attributed partially to the Sannin's weakening body. Orochimaru has reserves of chakra large enough to summon Manda and powerful enough to uproar dense surges of wind and crack stone. He can also absorb chakra through physical contact. Orochimaru rarely relies on taijutsu in battle, though the anime shows he is very strong, enough to knock down a tree with a single kick while under great physical pain. He is also fast enough to land a punch on a four-tailed Naruto that temporarily stunned him. Body Modifications In his quest to gain immortality, Orochimaru has made a number of modifications to his body over the years, referred to as the Power of the White Snake. With it, he can heal and regenerate from varying lengths of damage, usually through snake-like means; for injuries like bisection, he can reconnect himself using snakes; for more severe injuries, he can shed his skin to regurgitate a new body, free from all damage. Orochimaru's body modifications have also allowed him to manipulate the shape of his body for greater manouvreability, and enhanced his physical durability enough to survive a powerful punch from Tsunade. Orochimaru's body modifications have resulted in his true form taking on the appearance of a giant white snake. The body is composed of many smaller snakes that can be used to attack the opponent. Even if the opponent manages to incapacitate him, the blood released by killing the snakes is poisonous, evaporating into the air and paralysing anyone who inhales it. This form also enables Orochimaru to use his Living Corpse Reincarnation, his main method of immortality. It allows him to transfer his soul into a new body by swallowing that person whole and absorbing their consciousness, thereby gaining control of their body. This can only be used once every three years, as Orochimaru's current body begins to reject him and forces him to find a new host. The souls of the bodies he has taken remain in Orochimaru's subconscious and he can modify his body as he sees fit. Orochimaru has conducted research on Hashirama Senju's DNA in order to access the latter's rapid healing abilities. He eventually gains the ability after taking over the body of a White Zetsu clone, which contains Hashirama's DNA. Orochimaru has a vast arsenal of ninjutsu styles. He is proficient enough with the Transformation Technique to stay undetected for long periods of time; his skill in fūinjutsu allows him to use the Five Elements Seal to seal off a person's chakra; he can summon a single Rashōmon gate or more to protect himself from enemy attacks; he can hide hide within surfaces to avoid damage, or use cursed seals to temporarily paralyse an opponent. The anime shows Orochimaru using other techniques, such as the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, chakra scalpels,49 as well as space–time ninjutsu. Orochimaru wields the legendary Sword of Kusanagi, showing enough proficiency to fight evenly with his former master Hiruzen. The blade is able to extend great distances, cut through almost anything, and even be remotely controlled. He normally keeps the blade within a snake's mouth inside his own throat and retrieves it by having it turning into a snake after use. Nature Transformation Orochimaru can use all five basic nature transformations, along with Yin and Yang Release. His elemental displays are brief in the manga, using only Wind Release to create a powerful gust of wind and Earth Release to travel underground. In the anime, he can create mud-based clones. After taking over the body of a White Zetsu clone, Orochimaru gained access to the latter's Wood Release — a simultaneous mixture of earth and water. Summoning As his appearance suggests, Orochimaru has an affinity for snakes, using the unique arm tattoo to summon them for assistance in battle, his largest and strongest being Manda. He can also eject snakes from either his sleeves or his mouth to attack opponents; in the anime, the snakes can sprout Kusanagi-like blades from their own mouths for deadlier effect. He can even turn his lower body into a snake's tail, increasing his speed and mobility in battle. Orochimaru's ultimate snake-related technique is the Eight Branches Technique, where he transforms into an eight-headed, eight-tailed giant serpent with size superior to that of Manda. Orochimaru can perform the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, having further refined the kinjutsu developed by Tobirama Senju. Upon reviving the dead, he can implant them with special tags that erase their personalities, granting him complete control over their actions. During the Konoha Crush, Orochimaru revives the Second and First Hokage to fight his former teacher Hiruzen; the latter later seals away part of Orochimaru's soul within his arms, making him temporarily lose access to this technique. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru uses the Shinigami Mask to spiritually restore himself, allowing him to use the technique once more. His prowess with it has increased, as he revives all four previous Hokage with nearly their full power and can use Hashirama's cells to strengthen his control. During his research of Jūgo's clan, Orochimaru eventually tracked down the power source at the Ryūchi Cave and senjutsu. Although he lacked the body and chakra reserves strong enough to learn Sage Mode, Orochimaru developed another use for senjutsu chakra: the cursed seals. These seals contained some of Orochimaru's senjutsu chakra mixed with the enzyme produced by Jūgo, triggering a change similar to Sage Transformation, but with different side effects. These cursed seals can be used to enhance the power of one's techniques, and serve as anchors to Orochimaru's consciousness, allowing him to observe events through anyone branded by the seal. He can even be revived any number of times through the Evil Releasing Method, provided there are enough cursed seals and DNA. Orochimaru has acquired a vast amount of information of the shinobi world from his time with organisations such as Root and Akatsuki, having set up a network of fully supplied hideouts throughout various countries. He has great charisma in manipulating people into becoming his pawns, providing insight into their past and promising them power in order to gain their loyalty. In battle, he can deduce the workings of an enemy's fighting style and respond accordingly. Wanting to decipher all of the world's secrets, Orochimaru conducted extensive research and numerous experiments on himself and the DNA of other individuals to comprehend, attain, or reproduce their abilities. Research of abilities such as Hashirama Senju's Wood Release and Jūgo's Sage Transformation have allowed him to recreate those same abilities, or at least produce techniques based off of them, into other people. From experimentation of Shin Uchiha, Orochimaru has become more knowledgeable of human genetics, facilitating his overall research. The anime expands on Orochimaru's knowledge in other areas: he creates the Mind Awakening Pill to help speed up the cursed seal's progression; he builds a sophisticated robot with advanced weaponry; he creates genjutsu pills that can subdue a jinchūriki and their tailed beast simultaneously; he cultivates the cells of a tailed beast to create a pseudo-jinchūriki.